A Night At the Library
by 1065482801109701
Summary: When Mara breaks up with Mick, she flees to the library for some down time with her most reliable friend  books, of course , but when two certain pranksters try to pull a prank but only one makes it out, how will the night go? Rated K for Kumquat


**Hey guys, so I just wanted to take a break from Letters and Angels and so I did this oneshot for 14's Jara Challenge, and this is the first official challenge I've done… so be nice on me. Yah, fun times… so here's the story and now read!**

**~0o0o0o0~**

I had to run. Run anywhere, I suppose. Run from him. I knew he was too perfect for me: The blonde hair, blue eyes, and the kind attitude. I don't, never, was meant to be with Mick.

He deserved someone who wasn't me, someone who he could actually relate to. What am I? I'm just the girl people ignore in the corners; I'm the book worm that everyone calls on to help with math problems, not the one that's supposed to be dating the athlete.

And that's why I broke up with him, except it didn't come out as well thought out as it did in my head. Why am I such an idiot?

I can't do anything without making a mess out of it. I made a mess of Amber and Mick's relationship, and now I've made a mess of his heart.

I ran to the Frobisher library, the only place that seemed sensible to go. Mick wouldn't go here on his life and so I could wallow in my depression alone. At least, I thought it was depression.

The door was open and I gladly stepped in, cherishing the smell of dusty old books and wood polisher. It was almost dark, and like my situation, even though gray clouds streaked the sky, the orange light of the sun seemed to peak through. Light poured through the windows and I basked in their warmth.

I managed to pull myself up the stairs and find an interesting book on old 'spells' which honestly, was good for a laugh. I opened to the beginning and relishing the elegant script, and started skimming through.

Already, everything in my life seemed to be recovering. I don't even remember if why I was even upset in the first place. I liked being single, and contemplated my new freedoms. I didn't have to always look perfect for him and could even wear sweats if I wanted to.

Sweats, I mean, I would never go anywhere where he could see me underdressed. Yes, I told myself, everything will get better from here.

The book was ridiculous and I laughed at the aspects of all the different love spells offered in the books as well as elixirs of life **(Hahaha, see what I did there?) **

I briefly heard the door open and panicked, assuming Mick was coming to confront me, or even worst: Victor. I hate and do not do well in confrontation, and cringed at the memory of the hedgehog incident. I mean, my brain fails to work during times of pressure.

I crawled over to the railing only to see Jerome come in with Alfie.

"Dude, this is going to be the prank of pranks. We'll be legends!" Alfie exclaimed.

Mara groaned as silently as she could, courtesy of her tendency to hate their pranks and as the school rep, knowing that they never worked out and most likely would backfire.

"Yes Alfie, but of course, silence is key in this operation. Don't assume anyone isn't in here. I tried that once and let's just say it didn't end well." I rolled my eyes. Jerome was always an over-the-top cocky and insensitive jerk, well, at least to me.

I guess there was that one time he opened up to me last year. I shook my head. That was one time. Where had that nice Jerome gone?

I watched painfully as they discussed their 'diabolical' prank. Apparently, they were planning to get a whole bucket of yoghurt and hide it somewhere in the building, so that when it started to stink, all the teachers would have no idea where the smell was coming from and flail about frantically.

At least if I stayed here for a while I could prank them by getting rid of the bucket. It would be funny to see they scramble around for the bucket. Maybe I could even drag the bucket back to their room and attach a less-than-pleasant hand written note.

As I pondered these thoughts, I didn't see Victor come in.

Actually, I only noticed that he had actually entered the building when his voice rang out.

"Mr. Lewis, what are you doing here?" I crawled back and hid. I couldn't hear what Alfie had said probably because he was mumbling.

Wait, why was Alfie the only one getting in trouble, where was Jerome?

"Mm?" Victor's voice noisily interrupted my thoughts," Toilet duty for a month, and I am being nice." He enunciated each word so carefully it was almost painful.

It hardly sounded nice, in fact it sounded horrible.

I watched as he escorted Alfie out and closed the door behind him, and I realized now was my time to escape. I got up, and felt faint, probably because I had been sitting for so long. I grabbed onto the railing for a few seconds and as the dizziness passed, I let go and started to walk down the stairs.

Actually, it was more like a run, but no big deal. I was eager to get out of here, it seemed the library was more daunting at night, especially when there was only one light on, and even with that it hardly seemed to light up anything, all it did was cast a dim glow.

I grasped the handle of the door and pushed, only to find it stuck. Chuckling nervously, I wiped my hands on my skirt to try and rid them from the sweat that had accumulated on them.

It's okay, I told myself, I must have forgotten it was pull?

I tried pulling but it didn't work.

I tried again and again, but nothing worked.

Victor had locked the door leaving me here for the night.

"Damn it," I muttered, surprised that I had even said that. Usually, I can't even say crap, let alone damn it.

So I was stuck, in the library for a night with no form of communication to contact the outside world. Suddenly the prospect of being caught by Victor sounded like paradise. Hey, at least I had the books.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" I spun around quickly only to find Jerome approaching me.

I tried to shoot him my best scowl, whatever that looked like and quickly retorted, "Well I could say the same thing, couldn't I?"

He quickly looked down, the smirk still on his face and looked up again.

"So what're you doing here, just a little bit of light reading?" I didn't find his humor funny, especially because I… we were currently trapped in here.

"If you want to know, yes, I just did a little reading to pass the time." It even sounded like an outright lie, and I could tell he picked up on it.

"Really Mara? You expect me to believe that."

This time, I tried glaring at him and promptly pointed out that the door was locked. This, at least, put a bit of worry on his face, but he quickly changed back into his cocky state.

"Then I guess it's just you and me tonight, babes." He laughed as I felt myself blush. Only Mick had ever called me babes, and this… this was just beyond unbelievable. I can't let him win, I told myself, and tried shooting him a mean look. He wasn't gonna get to me.

"Laugh all you want, but this is serious."

"Relax Mara, tomorrow's a Friday anyway, and if we are stuck in here for that long, well, I guess that just gives us more time to get to know each other." I could tell he was going to laugh again and I braced myself.

Sighing as loudly as I could, I headed back upstairs to my book to try and distract myself. It was useless anyway: there was little to no light and I was too lazy to move under the window but I was too jittery to sleep and I figured the nonsensical element of the spells book would act like a story book.

I started reading from where I left off (though having to squint), and quickly enraptured by the spells again.

I heard his footsteps approaching me and I prepared myself for the worst. You always had to prepare for the worst with him.

"What are you reading?" He asked.

Block him out, block him out, I thought to myself, you might go insane if you don't. I chanted this in my head which helped in ignoring him, but he didn't leave.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as he easily plucked the book out of my hands.

"Magic Spells? I didn't think you were into this sort of stuff Mara." Even though it was dark, I could tell he was taunting me like he always did.

"If you want to know, it was one of the only things that looked half interesting here," I paused to try and regain my composure. Only Jerome knew how to make me this… mad, annoyed and impulsive.

"And, no I don't believe in this stuff." I took the book back and continued reading.

He left for a while, which was nice, and that gave me time to cool down. I'd decided that I was going to be somewhat unresponsive to him for the whole night which at the time had seemed like a good thing for the moment.

All up until he had the nerve to sit next to me and started talking to me yet again.

"I heard you and the meathead broke up today, what happened? Did he find a better tutor?" That actually hurt me not to mention the fact that he seemed generally happy about it. What kind of person does that?

I couldn't deny his statement, I had been helping Mick extensively with all his schoolwork, sometimes even letting him copy it on the rare occasion when training had taken up all his energy to think, but I never thought of it such a big deal until now.

"No, I just decided that it was time for a change." I felt him shift a little in his spot and looked up to meet his gaze. He was a little too close for comfort for me and I scooted away hoping to dispel him from my side.

"What?" I finally asked, very annoyed.

"I just never thought that you broke up with him. I mean, the rumor was his broke up with you." I pondered this for a moment. It did seem more likely, him breaking up with me, probably because he was the popular one.

"Yeah, well, I guess the rumors wrong." I shrugged it off, but I did feel my spirits fall.

"Mara, I'm gonna make you an offer, you can either choose to accept or decline, but it would be nice if you accept."

"Okay?" I looked up from the book and saw him smile when I noticed he had nice teeth. Wait, what?

"Let's get to know each other better, ok? I mean, I can make your night unbearable if you like, but if you agree, you might actually survive."

"You might actually survive if I don't claw out your throat in the next few seconds." I felt myself smile a bit at my comeback. Usually I was horrible when it came to thinking quick. It amused me so much that I had to bite down on my lip in order to stop my laughter.

"Comebacks aside Mara, is that a yes or a no?"

I considered it for a few seconds. The first option sounded horrible, probably because he might try and dump the yoghurt on my head, so the second option seemed natural.

"Fine, just no super personal questions."

For a while after that we asked each other basic questions.

"Can you play the piano?" He asked, and of course I answered no.

I thought about my question for a while, but came up with a perfect one," Have you ever written in a library book?"

He did a mock scoff and replied," I'm the one that writes all the smart remarks in the books, have you seen all the trashy teen stories in the library? All of them were defiled by yours truly."

I laughed hard as he explained how he wrote in every single Twilight book, sometimes replacing the text with random words and making just general random comments everywhere.

Some of my other favorite questions were," Pen or pencil? (Which apparently had only one answer because pen is 'superior' to pencils) and," First celebrity crush?"

I blushed and answered Joe Walker and was surprised when I found out he actually knew who he was. He had answered, quite stereotypically, Megan Fox because of course, in Jerome's words," She has it all."

We were laughing hard when we recalled stories from the earlier years at Anubis like the time Alfie broke the railing of the stairs when he was trying to climb it. Victor had almost expelled him but because Alfie's parents were some pretty hardcore benefactors to the school, he let him off with a warning, and toilet duty, or the time Joy had tried to read a poem at a talent show, but had to improvise on the spot and ended up reciting John 3:16, and how awkward it had all been.

Everyone was fine, actually enjoyable until I mistakenly asked," Are you closer to mom or dad?"

I clamped my hand over my mouth as I saw his face fall and immediately started saying sorry. I closed my eyes and mentally kicked myself. Didn't I just have a way with words?

"Jerome, I'm really… please… I'm so sorry." I pleaded with him but he refused to look at me.

"Mara, please, it's not your fault and to answer your question, I'm adding another option: neither. Happy?" He looked at me with his icy cold eyes and I looked down at my lap in order to distract myself.

We were silent for a while and I found myself playing with my hands, having make-shift thumbs wars with them.

"I broke up with Mick because I don't think I'm good enough for him." I don't know why I had said that. He had told me something personal before, he deserved something back.

"You are good enough Mara. You have the perfect grades, you're the nicest person I know-"

"Yeah, but I'll always be the one that everyone exploits. The one that everyone uses to get their stuff done." I knew that would shut him up. After all he did to me last year, and after how I had just forgiven him and just let him off…

"I'm sorry Mara. I mean, I'm sorry for last year, I guess I was just jealous of the whole you and Mick thing. Friends?"

I nodded and we kept on talking like normal but I had the overwhelming feeling something was off. I know Jerome had liked me last year, and I knew I had almost ignored all his problems, but if my suspicions were correct, how could he like me?

And, how could I be sure he liked me. I mean, it was just sheer speculation. He could just enjoy making me feel uncomfortable and acting mean to me yet secretly like me, I mean, I had no real clue.

"Mara, you ok?" He asked and I snapped my head to look at him.

"I'm just wondering where'd you put the bucket of yoghurt," I asked quite suddenly, trying to conceal my real thoughts. His lips curled into a smile.

"I hid it. Sadly, I didn't know that we'd be stuck here all night but it won't start to smell until tomorrow probably." He looked up at the ceiling.

I didn't feel reassured. In fact, I was part scared that I would be stuck in here with the smell of sour yoghurt in the air.

"Why do you always pull pranks, Jerome?" It was the one question that probably had boggled everyone in Anubis house.

"I guess probably because… I don't know really, I guess it's just my way of dealing with things. Something emotional happens, I pull a prank."

By the sheer number of pranks he pulled, he must have been extremely emotional. The reason seemed dumb to me. It was definitely more than that.

Tiredness that I had quietly suppressed came flooding back over me and my limbs felt as if they were disconnected from my body. I just wanted to go to bed, but it wasn't like I had one here. The only place I could probably sleep was here because there was a carpet here.

"What time is it?" I asked sleepily. I don't even think he understood me because I yawned quite loudly.

"It's 1:28 A.M."

I was shocked at how long we had talked. Usually, my conversations with most people were only a few minutes long before I would just end up reading a book.

"One last question Jerome. Do you like me?" Really, I don't even know why I asked that question.

"What?" He sounded almost offended and I closed my eyes in what I hoped was a dreamy sort of manner. I hoped.

"Sorry, I'm tired." Drearily, I got up and managed to drag myself to a different aisle, but as I walked away I could vaguely heard him whisper," Yes."

I settled down on the carpet and lay my head on my hands. Even though I was dead tired, it was keeping me awake.

He liked me. He really liked me. The question was did I like him? Did I melt whenever I saw his blue eyes, or whenever I saw him run his fingers through his hair? Did my breath hitch whenever he stood next to me? These questions rushed through my mind regardless of my sleepiness.

I guess I did like him. A chilling sensation came over me. Of course, being me, I contributed it to the wind outside. There must have been a draft in the library and the stupid school uniform did nothing to help.

I could feel the goose bumps forming on my calves and I tried to rub them off but the warmth seemed to leak out of them as soon as I tried.

I pulled my skirt down so that it could cover more of my legs and tucked my knees into my chest which helped a bit, and soon enough, I drifted off into a numb sleep.

It seemed like forever that I was suspended in a feeling of darkness, and when I woke up, the sense of darkness still clung to me, strange yet comfortable.

As my eyes cracked open, my legs felt warmer and as I reached down to them, I realized there was a jacket on them. I still wore mine, which meant Jerome had given me his.

I felt a dreamy sigh escape my lips. He really did care. Taking in a deep breath, I sat up and took the jacket off my legs. Standing up proved hard as the dizziness came over me again, but as I held onto the bookshelf the feel slid away.

This, however, did not mean the sleepiness had, and it seemed like forever before I even reached Jerome's sleeping form.

I draped the jacket over him and sat next to him and saw the book of 'spells' next to him.

I reached for it and to pick up where I left off. It was open to a love spell, and even though I felt my heart flutter, I still managed to roll my eyes.

He didn't need a spell, he already had my heart. Stupid head, I admonished, thinking up the corniest lines to make me blush.

Luckily he was asleep, or he would've thought I was a blushing idiot.

I stood up and walked downstairs, hoping to see the door unlocked, but it wasn't, still locked, and still trapped.

I pulled myself over to a window and looked at the mist covered grounds. It was creepy; it looked like a scene from a horror movie. Just a garden covered with mist that had no end.

The fact that there was no light yet just made it worse. I stood there for a while, just staring, hoping to see something amazing.

"You're up early."

My heart thudded abruptly in my chest as I turned around to see Jerome. I put a hand over my heart and took a deep breath," You scared me. Don't ever do that again!"

He just laughed and I struggled to hide a smile. Leaning in, he simply said," Don't count on it."

Why did I just become aware of all the flirting he did? No, why did I just become aware of how good he was at flirting.

"Thanks Jerome, I mean, for the jacket. Weren't you cold?"

"Mara, I'm wearing pants and a sweater, I was fine."

I turned back to the window and waited eventually until the dawn broke, pink, orange, and purple streaking the sky like watercolors.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" His words surprised me. I mean, Jerome the Joker talking about the beauty of a sunrise. Then again, I didn't know everything about him. I knew more than most people though, and I knew that he trusted me. That meant a lot to me.

"I-I guess. Hey, do you know when this is gonna open up?"

"I'm guessing all too soon." His voice held panic.

"What?" I asked, obviously oblivious to what he was seeing.

"Victor's here." I didn't know what he meant. How could he possibly know if Victor was here?

As if reading my mind, he pointed to the window where I saw him walking towards the library. He wore his usual outfit, and looked around wearily as he approached.

"Follow me," He urged, grabbing my hand and pulling behind a bookshelf. His hands were nice, they weren't clammy, but they were soft yet firm. Focus Mara! Stop daydreaming about his hands!

He let go and I felt my heart sink a bit, but he put his finger against his lip telling me to be absolutely quiet.

I heard the lock on the door spring and wrenched my eyes shut expecting the worst. Jerome held my hand and I looked up at him only to meet his encouraging smile.

I heard the creaking steps and felt a rush of relief as I realized he wasn't going to catch us, at least downstairs.

Jerome tugged on my hand and pulled me up, and thank goodness, my coordination was with me this time, because I actually managed to walk silently.

As we approached the door, I heard movement upstairs and I freaked out, and had to bite my tongue to stop my sharp intake of air. We fell back and waited, but eventually the sound stopped and we moved forward. The door was being extremely cooperative when it opened and thankfully didn't creak.

He gestured for me to go outside first and I did running as fast I dared, but waited for Jerome.

The smell of dew on the grass welcomed me in a hug which I gladly accepted. I breathed in deeply enjoying the fresh cool air against my skin.

He emerged looking equally as excited as I did, and locked eyes; we managed to burst out into laughter.

We had just avoided certain academic death. It was just that ridiculous.

After we had finished our laughing episode we started walking still talking about the night before.

It didn't even bother me that I was extremely tired, I just felt like I was floating, no, it was more like I wasn't connected to my body and that just the free part of me was carrying me high above.

When we reached the house after a long walk, I felt the sadness creep into my mind. After this, he would just go back to being that joker guy and I would go back to being the nerd.

Sure, we might have a good chat once in a while, but the wall would be put back up.

We would remain… friends.

"Jerome!" I exclaimed. He looked back at me suddenly, looking confused.

I flung my arms around his neck (granted, while on my tiptoes) and kissed him trying to communicate all that I felt for him. He seemed shocked at first but eventually he wrapped his arms around my waist and start kissing me back.

The kiss ended but our foreheads still touched.

After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to say in a raspy voice," I like you to."

**~0o0o0o0~**

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